UBC has released the 2021 campus security report for the Vancouver campus.
Despite campus reopening this past year, the number of incidents has remained relatively stagnant or even decreased in some areas. The report also provided an update on Campus Security's response to an external review.
The number of indecent acts and physical threats both decreased from the previous year. However, the number of assaults on campus increased from 5 to 7, while robbery also increased from 1 to 3 incidents.
Car theft and breaking and entering on campus saw no significant changes, but all other theft rose by 14 cases this year.
The number of public requests for help from campus security also decreased. Blue phone calls declined in use. A large decrease was also seen in the number of requests for safety transport, which fell from 253 requests in 2020 to 123 in 2021.
The report offered little context for the rise or decline of different incidents.
A notable change in campus security operations was the shift away from a third-party contracted first aid service. Campus security patrol officers are now given first aid training and have responded to 600 first aid calls since July 2021.
External review update
The report also outlined how Campus Security has addressed recommendations made in an external review, launched after a Black graduate student alleged he was racially profiled by a campus security officer.
UBC Vancouver Campus Security piloted an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Training Program in response.
The training is meant to teach security how to properly report incidents based on racial hate, conduct unbiased investigations, and how to appropriately communicate “with racialized people,” amongst other things.
Campus Security also implemented a new standard operating practice for complaints made against them. The complaints are investigated by independent UBC bodies like UBC Human resources, UBCV Office of Investigation, and the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) to name a few.
The report adds that an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADI) has been included to address some complaints “where appropriate.”
It was also noted that campus security is predominantly male-dominated and that Campus Security is attempting to remove any barriers for future female candidates.
In a comment to The Ubyssey, Interim Director of Campus Security Sam Stephens wrote that he views his role as “ensuring that these [campus security] services are meaningful and are aligned to the expectations of the community.”